s illnesses. This organization was the first in the country to be granted non-profit status. By 1937, marijuana had been classified as a narcotic by all states. It wasn’t until 1972 that there was a call for the decriminalization of marijuana by the government. The American Medical Association and the National Council of Churches endorsed the decriminalization of marijuana. One must believe that support from an organization with such influence in the medical field that marijuana must have some medicinal purpose. In 1996, California passed Proposition 215, which legalized possession of marijuana for patients with a doctor’s recommendation who are suffering from AIDS, cancer, Glaucoma, and other illnesses. In September of 2000, federal Judge William Alsup of the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco ruled that the government could not punish doctors who recommend the benefits of marijuana to their patients. This verdict gave ill people a sign of hope that they will be able to take whatever medication necessary, even marijuana, to treat their sicknesses. Even though marijuana has many ways in which it may help an ill person, it is like other drugs in which it has side effects also. Smoked marijuana has the same affects on the body as tobacco, which is a legal and tolerated substance. Chronic smokers of marijuana are at risk for chronic obstructive lung disease and lung cancer. Marijuana tar has been found to be carcinogenic and is associated with development of respiratory tract carcinoma in young adults. Although these effects sound tremendously harmful, cigarettes are equally harmful but are sold at high rates. Amotivation syndrome has also been an effect of long time usage. Amotivation syndrome is when apathy, lack of energy, and loss of motivation persist for days. Alcohol can have this effect when abused and alcohol is sold and regulated by the government. Although marijuana has side effects, many other produc...
